Improved device for hanging wall-paper



TAT E S FIE.

IMPROVED DEVICE FOR HANGING WALL-PAPER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 5,74i, dated October 16, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J AMES WARREN DAVIS, of Vashington City, in the District of Columbia, have invented a new and useful Improvement, being an Implement for Hanging all- Paper, of which the following is a full, clear,

and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings of the same, which make part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 represents an elevation of the side of the implement, with the several parts in the position they occupy when the paper is clamped and ready to be placed against the wall. Fig. 2 represents a similar elevation of the implement, with the several parts in the position they occupy when the implement is used as a roller only for pressing the paper against the wall. Fig. 3 represents a section of the imple ment transversely to the axis of the roller, the several parts occupying the position shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 represents a similar section, the several parts occupying the position shown in Fig. 2.

My invention relates to the construction of an implement for the purpose of facilitating the hanging of wall-paper; and it consists of a staff or handle, A, of such length as to enable the user to manage it conveniently in passing its operating end over the wall from top to bottom. To the end of this handle a bar, 13, is secured, so as to form the letter T, and to each end of this head-bar a metallic arm, 0, is secured, so as to form, with the bar, an open bracket-frame. To the outer ends of these bracket-arms (J a roller, D, is mounted upon axis-pivots a, so that it is free to turn thereon. This roller is made of wood, covered with one or more linings, c, of some soft material, such as woolen cloth, or any substance that will form a cheap yielding or elastic bed around its surface. The roller, thus prepared with its yield ing bed, is covered with a piece of oil-silk, s, or other suitable material having a glazed surface, for the purpose of allowing it to be kept perfectly dry and clean from the paste by wipin g it occasionally with. a damp cloth without in the least degree affecting the lining or yielding bed with dampness, and thereby preserve its el'i'ectiveness as a yielding surface.

The bracket-arms O are of sufficient length to admit an adjustable clamping-bar, E, be-

tween the roller and the head-bar B of the handle, for the purpose of clamping the paper against the roller and releasing it therefrom. The clamping-bar is of a length equal to that of the roller, and it is held in place by tongues or pins 0 011 each end fitting into rabbets or slots f in the bracket-arms, so that its movement to and from the roller will be parallel to its axis. The clamping side of this bar is made V-shaped in its transverse section, so as to present to the surface of the roller, when in-contact therewith, a continuous bearing edge without indenting its surface.

The clampingdeviceconsistsoftwo l -shaped arms, F, pivoted to the head-bar B, so that their longest ends meet in the middle of the bar, and their shortest ends extend to the flat or under side of the clam ping-bar, at an angle greater than a rightangle. From these short arms or ends pins 2' extend horizontally, upon which the clamping-bar rests, whether clamped to the roller or otherwise. To each of the long ends of the arms F a wire, m, is connected, whose opposite end is connected to abell-crank, G, pivoted to the handle below the head-bar. To the same end of this bell-crank I connect one end of a spiral spring, H, whose other end is connected to the handle below the bell-crank, so that the spring constantly tends to clamp the roller by pulling the long ends of the arms F downward and the short ends toward each other in the arc of a circle of which the pivot g is the center, whereby the supporting-pins i move in a curvilinear risin g-and-fallin g motion.

In order to clamp and nnclamp the roller at pleasure during the operation of walling the paper, the opposite end of the bell-crank projects through an opening in the handle to receive the connection of a wire rod, 1, held to the side of the handle (opposite to that to which the spring is attached) by guide-eyes a, and, extending nearly to the end of the handle, is bent at right angles, so as to form a hand-rest or arm, J, upon and against which the hand is brought, so as to pull the rod I down, and thus operate the bell-crank, which forces the long ends of the L-shaped arms F upward and the short ends outward and downward, so as to release them from the clampingbar, which, by its own weight, is released from the roller and rests upon the horizontal supports of the arms.

The space between the clam pin g-bar and the roller, when the two are unclamped, must be sufficient to allow the end of the paper to be readily placed between them and clamped, and the space between the clamping-bar and the head-bar must be suffieient to allow the free movement of the supporting-pins i in clamping and unclampin g the bar to the roller.

The roller may be of a length equal to the width of common wall-paper, or of such length as will adapt it to convenient'handling.

Theimplement thus constructed performs the several functions of clamping and raising the paper to the top of the wall and holding it until matched, rolling over it and pressing it against the wall from top to bottom, and of rubbing against the paper with a fixed surface to remove air-blisters and rough places; and it is used in the following manner, viz: The taper having been previously pasted and folded in a manner well known to npholsterers, the workman with his left hand presses down the rod J so as to release the spring clampingbar E from the roller. The top end of the paper is then turned over the top of the roller and placed in between the roller and the clamp, when the workman releases his left hand from the spring-rod and the clamping-bar ispulled by the spring up against the roller, thus biting securely the folded edge between them. The workman, with his right hand, then grasps the handle, and with his left hand holds the folded pasted paper and raises the staff, so as to present the end of the paper up to the top of the wall, and, holding it there with his right hand, unfolds the paper against the wall with his left hand and matches it to the breadth which may have been previously put up 5 and when properly matched the clamp-bar is released from the roller, and the latter, being still unclamped, is moved up and down over the paper, so as to press every part of it against the wall from top to bottom'with far greater facility than can be done by hand in the ordinary way, and with equal smoothness.

In case the roller, moving freely over the paper, should leave an air-blister or rough or wrinkled place, the spring-rod is released and the roller again clamped, so as to form a rubher, and with its elastic surface is passed rapidly over the rough place in such manner as to rub and press out the blisters and roughness.

By means of this implement the workman may dispense with the use of a step-ladder to a very great extent, and a skillful workman will be enabled to average nearly double the amount of work than can be done in the usual What I claim as my invention is The roller D, having a yielding surface, the clamping-bar E, the frame A B U, the pivoted arms F, the bell-crank G, and the spring-rods J m, the whole arranged and operated substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein described and represented.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name.

JAMES WARREN Davis.

Witnesses G. W. BUTT, GEO. LOYALL, Jr. 

